"A great n.o.bleman! what is his name?"
"I don"t know yet, but I shall learn it."
"And you are sure of this?"
"Oh, very sure; and it must be this n.o.bleman who has taken away your sweetheart."
"I entreat you to let me know his name."
"Tomorrow, that is, to say, this evening, I hope to learn it. But be prudent, young man, and do not compromise me. I expose myself to great risk in thus helping you."
"Monsieur, you may count on my grat.i.tude."
"I will count on it, you may be sure."
"And I may expect the information this evening?"
"Yes; be near the Porte Montmartre at nine o"clock this evening. Take care to bring along with you all the money you can get together, and I will tell you all I have learned."
"Enough! Oh, that evening were here--"
"And, while waiting for it, I shall have need of some crowns to give to the friend of whom I spoke to you, and my pockets are empty because I have been robbed so much."
"Here is all that I have upon me, monsieur; take it, I beg of you."
"Very willingly, my young friend," said Chaudoreille; "but day is dawning; we must part until this evening, at the Porte Montmartre."
"Oh, I shan"t fail to be there, monsieur."
"And don"t forget anything I have told you. Good-by; I"m going to work for you."
Chaudoreille departed, and Urbain, slightly restored by the hope imparted to him by this man, went to his dwelling that he might there wait for evening.
While walking alongside the Pont-Neuf, the Gascon said to himself,--
"It seems to me that the marquis did the business very quickly. The little one is abducted; this rascal of a Touquet is in connivance with the marquis, I am certain. I must be audacious now; the marquis is incapable of speaking of me; I must go to Touquet"s house without appearing to know anything, and see what he will say to me; besides, from prudential motives I shall remain in the shop, and the first angry movement that I see him make, I will spring out of the door and draw a hundred people around me."
This plan settled, Chaudoreille began by going into the first eating-house which he saw, and, for fear of being again robbed, ate and drank to the extent of all the money which Urbain had given him. It was nearly ten o"clock when he left the table. This was the time when the barber"s was always the most crowded, and it was the moment which Chaudoreille chose to go there. Before he went into the shop, he ascertained that Touquet was not alone; then he presented himself, and wished him good morning with a wheedling air. The barber answered in his customary tone. Nothing in his manner indicated that he had any suspicion, and Chaudoreille was rea.s.sured. However, when they were alone he did not lose sight of the door, while asking indifferently if there was any news.
"Everything is finished," said the barber, "they are married, they are gone, and I hope I shall hear nothing further."
"Oh, they are married," said Chaudoreille, compressing his lips, "the little one has a husband. Her little lover?"
"Why, of course," answered Touquet, brusquely. "What is there surprising to you in that?"
"Me? By jingo! I"m no more surprised than a fly."
"Wait, here is what I promised you. I intend shortly to sell this house, and to retire from business. I have no further need of your visits; you have no more music lessons to give here, so you need not take the trouble to come again. Good-by, I will make you a present of all the shaves for which you owe me."
"Very much obliged, my dear friend, may I be able to prove all my grat.i.tude to you some day."
So saying, Chaudoreille pa.s.sed through the doorway, and departed from the barber"s house.
"He forbids me to return to his house," said the Gascon. "That"s very polite. The rascal is afraid that I shall meet the marquis there. The latter probably ordered him to share with me the gratuity he gave him on receiving the pretty little sweetheart at his hands; but patience! if you are a scoundrel, my dear Touquet, I flatter myself that I am also an adroit enough chap. I have no desire to return into your hornets" nest.
Come, Chaudoreille, we must show some genius here, my friend. I must set to work to repair last night"s losses and to make my fortune over again.
Devil take me, though, if I ever again take a sedan chair. First I"ll go to the little house in the Faubourg and learn from Marcel if it was there that the marquis led Blanche; after that I shall come back into Paris and go to our jealous Italian"s house; there I shall tell her all about it,--I shall tell her all about it! She"ll go into convulsions over it. Finally, I"ll keep the appointment I made with the young lover, and after having made him pay me well, I"ll tell him all that I know.
After that each one of them may win out of it as they best can. As for me, as soon as my pockets are full, I shall settle myself in a faro house, and I will there dare fortune in the midst of players and bankers. By jingo! what a pleasing prospect."
While laying these plans he took his way towards the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. He arrived all out of breath at the little house, and, while opening to him, Marcel asked him if by chance he had again killed a strange prince.
"Not today," said Chaudoreille, affectionately squeezing his friend"s hand, which made the latter presume that his great fortune was already dissipated.
"Have you come for the purpose of buying a house in this neighborhood,"
said Marcel.
"There"s no more question of that; I have been robbed, my friend, completely robbed. I took a sedan chair and the wretches who carried me took me into a den and put a dozen or fifteen men after me. Valor could do nothing against numbers; I think, however, that I killed three or four while defending myself. But let us drop that. Tell me, my dear Marcel, has the marquis brought here a new conquest?"
"I have seen neither monseigneur nor anybody from him."
"Marcel, you"re lying."
"I"m telling you the truth. There"s no one except me in the house."
"The devil! that upsets my ideas a little. You are very sure that you are not lying to me?"
"Why, hang it! if there had been anybody here I should have sent you away before this."
"Do you know if your master possesses any other little properties on the outskirts of Paris?"
"I know nothing except to follow the orders which he has given me, to eat and to sleep; for the rest I"m neither curious nor a gossip."
"You"re very wrong, you"ll never push yourself. Good-by, Marcel."
Chaudoreille took his way back to Paris, extremely dissatisfied that he had not discovered where Blanche was. Not wishing to go to Julia"s house until he had learned more, he decided to make some inquiries at the marquis" hotel.
The brilliant Villebelle"s hotel was worthy of its master, and was situated at a little distance from the Louvre. Chaudoreille slipped into an immense court and bowed low to the porter, while asking if monseigneur was in Paris.
"Monsieur le marquis is in England," said the porter, looking at Chaudoreille from the height of his grandeur, and the latter, seeing that he had no way of entering into conversation with the proud guardian, left the hotel, saying to himself,--
"In England? Does he wish to seduce the little one with plum pudding? My faith! I"ve done all that I can. Come now, let"s go and tell the beautiful Julia all that I know. It"s not more than five o"clock, I shall have plenty of time to keep my appointment."
Chaudoreille ran to the young Italian"s house, where a servant opened the door.
"Is your mistress in?" said he.
"Yes, monsieur."
"Is she alone?"